Atmos Energy Corporation

Hello and thank you for standing by. My name is Tiffany and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Atmos Energy Corporation Fiscal 2025 Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, Simply press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to turn the call over to Dan Mazier, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Dan, please go ahead.

Thank you, Tiffany. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Kevin Akers, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Chris Forsyth, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings release and conference call slide presentation, which we will reference in our prepared remarks, are available at atmosenergy.com under the Investor Relations tab. As we review our financial results and discuss future expectations, please keep in mind that some of our discussion might contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act. Our forward-looking statements and projections could differ materially from actual results. The factors that could cause such material differences are outlined on slide 37 and are more fully described in our SEC filings. I will now turn the call over to Kevin.

Thank you, Dan. As Tuesday is Veterans Day, I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have served in our armed forces and those currently serving. Approximately 300 of our Atmos Energy teammates are part of the 18 million Americans who bravely served our country. Thank you for your service. Yesterday we reported diluted earnings per share of $7.46. This marks the 23rd consecutive year of earnings per share growth. Fiscal 25 also represents the 41st consecutive year of dividend growth. Our fiscal year results reflect the focus and dedication of the entire Atmos Energy team and their continued successful execution of our proven strategy of operating safely and reliably while we modernize our natural gas distribution, transmission, and storage systems. Their exceptional work has us well positioned for fiscal 26 and beyond. During fiscal 25, we continue to experience solid customer growth, adding approximately 57,000 residential customers with over 44,000 of those new customers located in Texas. We also added nearly 3,200 commercial customers. and 29 industrial customers during fiscal 25. When these industrial customers are fully operational, they are anticipated to consume approximately 4 BCF of gas annually. This usage is equivalent to adding over 74,000 residential customers on a volumetric basis. Over the last five years, we have added nearly 300,000 residential and commercial customers. And over the last five years, we've added 225 industrial customers with an estimated annual load of 63 BCF when fully operational. On a volumetric basis, this is equivalent to adding nearly 1.2 million residential customers. This growing natural gas demand from all of our customer classes continues to demonstrate the vital role natural gas has in economic development across our entire service territories. According to the Texas Workforce Commission for the 12 months ending August, the seasonally adjusted number of employed Texans reached 14.35 million. Texas again added jobs at a faster rate than a nation over the last 12 months, growing at a rate of 1.14%. And Texas was recently ranked the best state for business for the 21st year in a row by Chief Executive Magazine. According to the North Central Texas Council of Government, the current population estimate for the Metroplex is approximately 8.6 million people as of April 2025. Many analysts project the Metroplex to be the third largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by 2030. The U.S. Census Bureau has the population for Texas at 31.3 million, and it is projected that Texas will reach a population of $32.4 million by 2030. Now turning to Atmos Pipeline Texas, our Bethel to Grosbeck project is nearing completion of approximately 55 miles of 36 inch pipeline from our Bethel Storage Facility to our Grosbeck Compressor Station. This project will provide additional pipeline capacity to transport gas from our Bethel Storage Facility into the growing DFW Metroplex and the Interstate 35 corridor between Waco, Temple, and Austin. This project is anticipated to be in service late this calendar year. APT's Line WA Loop Phase 2 project is also nearing completion of approximately 44 miles of 36-inch pipeline. This phase of the multi-year project will provide additional pipeline capacity from our Line X to the northern areas of the growing DFW Metroplex. This phase is anticipated to be in service late calendar year 2025. APT completed our integrity inspection and verification per Texas code for our Bethel salt dome caverns two and three. And we have begun the integrity inspection and verification work on our Bethel cavern number one. This work is expected to continue into late calendar year 2026. Turning to our updated five-year plan through fiscal 2030, Focus continues to be on safety and reliability through system modernization, being mindful of customer affordability, timely recovery of our costs through our various regulatory mechanisms, and maintaining a strong balance sheet. Following our robust five-year planning process, we plan to invest $26 billion with approximately 85% of that planned investment allocated to safety and reliability. This investment will support the continued modernization of our natural gas distribution, transmission and storage systems and support the growing natural gas demand across our jurisdictions. Approximately $21 billion or 80% of our total planned capital spending is expected to be incurred in Texas. The five-year plan reflects the impact of Texas House Bill 4384 on our earnings. As a reminder, House Bill 4384 reduces lag in Texas by permitting gas utilities to defer post-inservice carrying costs, depreciation, and ad valorem taxes associated with non-eligible Rule 8209 capital investments, such as customer growth and system expansion. With the passage of House Bill 4384, we will now begin to recover over 95% of our capital spending within six months and 99% within 12 months. We believe the successful execution of our strategy will support earnings per share growth at 6% to 8% from the midpoint of our rebased fiscal 26 ETS diet. Additionally, we intend to grow the dividend in line with earnings per share growth. Now I'll turn the call over to Chris who will provide some additional color on fiscal 25 and the fiscal 26 five-year plan, and I'll return later with some closing comments. Chris?